Pink Wednesday: ???

Hey all!

I was a lot busier today than I expected, so sorry about this late post.  But better late than never right?  I still have stuff to finish up so here's a super quick post.  This is 3 coats of a franken I made.  It's a nameless purple leaning pink.  In the last two pics I used Revlon Waterfall for my accent finger.

NOTD: Fishing for Love (& cut-out heart) mani

Hey all!

I added a new tab at the top: FAQ.  I've already added a few questions that people have asked me before.  If there is anything else you would like to know leave a comment or send me an email!  I would love to answer them. :)

As for the magnetic polishes, I swatched them...but they came out horribly.  The best I could get was a single line.  I used several different strong refrigerator magnets, but perhaps they are not strong enough?  Or too big?  Does anyone have suggestions?  This is my first time trying out magnetic polishes, so maybe it's me.

And finally I have another nail art for you.  I was thinking of what to do and thought of some doodles I did a few years back on some post-its.  I decided to draw one of them onto my nail. :)

Look!  A cut-out heart. :)

Picture Polish Sale & Lowered Shipping

Just saw this in my mail, so thought I'd share it with you. :)

Hi piCture pOlish friends,

We hope you are all well!

EXCITING NEWS!!!  We have been reviewing our International Shipping Costs from your feedback plus a new contract with our shipper.  What that means for all our international ladies is DISCOUNTED shipping prices for Standard Airmail!!  So we have passed on these great savings to you all!!  Please see our Shipping & Returns tab (to the bottom left on-line) at www.picturepolish.com.au  for our new International shipping costs.

Theme Monday: (Floral) Overboard & Tutorial

Hey all~

Today's post is for Facebook group Polish-aholics Anonymous!  Every Monday there is a new theme and today's is floral.  Makes me look forward to Mondays. :)

Sinful Colors: Daddy's Girl

Hey all :)

If you hadn't noticed, there was a poll asking which polish you'd like to see next.  The winner was the Essence magnetic polish.  I think I'll swatch and review Steel Me and Copper Rulez! on the same day.  I'm currently looking for some strong magnets (there doesn't seem to be any at home), as well as the sun.  I haven't been able to swatch because it's been quite cloudy, rainy, and cold these past few days.  So until then, I have a swatch I've already done in preparation for days like these.

Deborah Lippman: Get this party started

**Edit:  Swatches & review can now be seen here: Candy Shop & Forget You
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Ladies, have you seen this?!!

 Get This Party Started (set)

Left to Right: Happy Birthday, Candy Shop, Forget You

The one on the left is Happy Birthday, and the other two are variations of it in a bubblegum pink and black base.  What do you think?  I think I'd love it more if the glitters were different for each polish, but I'm still excited nonetheless!  Tell me your thoughts in the comments!

PS. The image is from All Lacquered Up as you can see.  You can read about this set in more detail at her site!  Clicking the picture will also take you there.  :)


Liz

Sigma Beauty: F80 & Make Me Crazy Review (Pic Heavy)

My Sigma brushes came in the mail a few days ago, so I'd like to share them with you. :)

Zoya Promo: Free Summer/Sunshine collection with Purchase

A quick post to let you know Zoya is doing yet another promo.  Seriously, they do one every week.  One more reason to love Zoya! :)  You can now receive the summer or sunshine collection free with the purchase of Zoya's Color Lock System.  Shipping is free as well!  I would recommend participating if you were planning on buying the color lock system as it costs $48. ^^  Don't worry if you miss out on this one.  I'm sure there will be more great promos in the future. :)

See below for details or visit http://zoyanailpolish.blogspot.com/

Theme Monday: (Polka Dots) Lanterns and Fans (Pic Heavy)

Hey all!  The ladies over at Polish-aholics Anonymous wanted to do theme manis on Mondays and post pics!  Today is our first theme Monday, and we all did polka dots.  It's still not too late to join in!  Here's what I did. :)

Okay, let's dissect this mani! :P 

Top 10 Award

Hey all :)  Cristina of Opinionated Little Finger gave me the Top 10 Award!  Thank you Cristina. :)  If you're not following her blog, I definitely recommend you do!  She's so sweet, and her blog is one of the ones I regularly read.  I just need to type the letter 'o' into my address bar and her site pops up.  Also she has the cutest bunny ever.  How can you say no to bunnies?  So definitely go check it out! :)

This was in my editing box, when I noticed that Kristina of My Lucid Bubble gave me the award as well.  Thank you!  Please go visit her site.  She always has very nice swatches, and she is also doing a giveaway right now.  You can earn extra entries by helping her feed these little cuties with $1 donations. :)

Here are the rules for this award:
1. Thank the person who tagged you and link to their blog.
2. Put the Top 10 Award logo on your blog.
3. List your top 10 cosmetics.
4. Choose 10 bloggers to tag, link to their blogs, and let them know.


I'm not the biggest make-up person, but I've decided to leave nail polish out of this one.  Hehe.  Here's my top 10:

BYS Wonderland Collection

Minus one.  I got two out of the three in a swap with Ame of GiMiKd Girl!

L to R: Down the Rabbit Hole, Through the Looking Glass

Down the Rabbit Hole is a black jelly base with tons of holographic micro glitter.  This one is really gorgeous in the sun and super sparkly!  I think this was opaque in 3 coats.

Through the Looking Glass has a clear base filled with blue and yellow micro glitter.  This one's apparently a close dupe to OPI's Absolutely Alice.  I think the difference was that Through the Looking Glass had less yellow glitter, which is a shame because it would be perfect with a bit more yellow glitter!  For some reason while I was swatching this, I was determined to get it opaque.  5 coats later it wasn't anywhere near opaque, but I didn't want to take pics of my stained nails.  I noticed China Glaze Blue Iguana is a similar blue to the glitter in here, so I did one coat over the glitter, then another coat of TTLG.  The result?  Amazing!  The blue is a perfect match and you need only one coat as a base.  It actually makes it just look like it's opaque from the blue glitter, not like it has a jelly base.  So I was pleased.  I suggest doing one coat Blue Iguana, than 2-3 coats TTLG. :)

Mermaid Tail Nail Art & How To

I've kept you guys waiting long enough!  Thanks for being patient. :)

I'm starting to feel a lot better, and I'm itching to start swatching and creating cool nail art for you guys.  Unfortunately, that'll have to wait a little longer, because yesterday I wanted to test out my silver shatter (I haven't been able to use it yet! >.<) on my sister's nail and the smell sent me reeling.  So still too early for that.  But here's something I did before I got sick. :)

Mermaid scales!  But first, let me do a quick review of Orly Shine.  Shine is your basic white-silver foil.  It's a little sheer, so I'm wearing 3-4 coats here.  And I actually got to do a wear test with this one for a whole week.  After about a week, I only had tip wear, and this was without top coat.  But I also haven't done much this week, so that's something to consider.

All the silver made me think of scales, so I decided to do a mermaid tail on the accent finger.  I actually did this like I did my mosaic nails, only with a scale print this time.  But after I was done, I realized there's really no point in going through all that trouble.  Here's a simpler way!

Cult Nails Sale

Hey all :)

Just dropping in to let you know Cult Nails is doing a sale right now where you can buy Captivated for $4.50 with the purchase of any two polishes!  And they ship internationally as well.  The code is "icing," so if you were planning on buying any Cult Nails polishes, right now sounds like a great time. :)

--Update--
Okay, so I've been asking around on Twitter about international shipping, and here's what I got.
"For most locations yes (international shipping is back). It depends on shipping restrictions of the customer's country.  If your country does not appear at checkout, just send an email. We should be able to add it back in. Hope this helps."

Liz

Zoya Promotion and Update

Hey all!

I think I've caught some kind of nasty flu, since I've been in bed these past few days.  I haven't been able to keep any food down either, but now I'm able to get out of bed and eat a little as well.  So hopefully I'll be back to normal in a few days.  For the time being, I don't think I can swatch or post too regularly, so please understand. :)  I do have some swatches I've already done, so once I'm up to it, I'll post them. ^^

For now, if you still haven't heard, Zoya's giving away Zoya Ivanka and Charla with any purchase!  I actually just purchased mine, since Charla has been on my lemming list forever.  You can read more about it below or on http://zoyanailpolish.blogspot.com/

Urban Decay Kiss

Here's a quick post before I go to sleep!

This is my first Urban Decay polish, and I love it!  I wish they had these in the States!  I don't understand why we have Urban Decay cosmetics and Essence polishes, but not all of them.  It's weird how companies do that.  They should sell everything everywhere.  :P  

At first I thought this was going to be a super hot almost red pink, because that's how it looked in the bottle.  But this is definitely a red.  A fiery bright red jelly with magenta shimmer!  And it's so gorgeous in the sun.  The finish has a glossy, wet look that I love.  Kiss is such a perfect name for it. :)  Despite being really pigmented, this was sheer.  At four coats, there was still some VNL, especially indoors.  For the most part, it looked opaque outside.  Enjoy!

Pink Wednesday: Cult Nails Devious Nature

It's already Pink Wednesday again!  I feel like this week has gone by so fast.  Guess what I have today?!  Cult Nails Devious Nature! (Like you couldn't tell by the title.)  The bf has bought me a lot of polishes lately, and this was one of them, including Captivated, China Glaze 108 Degrees, and $OPI Once a Cheetah, Always a Cheetah.  I'm a spoiled girl. :P  I was so excited to get this one.  I've been wanting it since I saw the promos!

Before I talk about Devious Nature, I'd like to address the packaging.  I love the packaging, but I was disappointed to see that my two bottles were badly scratched up all the way around the caps when I got it.  It's not a big deal, but it just really annoys me to see dull scratch marks on new bottles.  I even went at it with a wet paper towel in the hopes that it would wipe off.  I was just going to over look it, but these bottles weren't cheap, so I contacted Maria of Cult Nails about it.  She actually got back to me within a few hours!  Maria let me know that there were some problems with the caps being scratched and that it has been addressed with her filling manufacturer.  So it shouldn't be a problem with any future productions.  She also told me that she'll try to get some extra caps over if the manufacturer is willing to send over spare caps. :)  Overall, I'm impressed with the quick response and helpfulness, so I'm willing to over look the scratches. :P  I was actually going to wait and see if I'll be able to get new caps before posting, but I gave in.  I had to try this. ^^

Now on to the polish!  Here's what Cult Nails has to say about Devious Nature:  "Devious Nature is a beautiful hot pink.  Based in berry tones, Devious Nature is not just another pink!"  I couldn't agree more!  The formula was great; this went on like butter.  However, you do need to kind of get the hang of how much to put on your nail.  If you're not able to cover your nail at once, the polish might dry and become uneven.  I do wish the brush was a tad bit bigger, but it's not bad.  Okay, now I'm going to say something I rarely say and you might not agree...but I think this is a careful (thick) one coater.  Let me show you.

shade

Mosaic Nail Art Tutorial & 4 Different Looks

Hey all!

Today I have the tutorial for the mosaic nails I did in the last post.  It's actually very simple and requires little tools.  All you really need is some time and patience. :)  In case you didn't see my last post, here's what mosaic nails look like.

NOTD: Essence Chacalaca & Mosaic Nail Art

Here's a quick review of Essence Chacalaca (how fun is that to say?).  Chacalaca is part of the limited edition Whoom Boom collection!  It's a lovely dark blurple creme that leans more towards purple in my opinion.  I had no problems with application.  This is 2 coats without top coat, because I forgot. >.<

Then because I was feeling artsy and had some spare time, I did these mosaic nails.  ^_^  The bubbles shown in the mani aren't from any of the polishes but my top coat.  I kind of glopped it on because I wanted to take pics of it before the sun completely set.  In the process I smeared the white polish on one nail too. :/  Don't the colors remind you of something?  Maybe...Zoya's Mod Mattes collection? :P  For the other colors, I used Revlon Tulip, Revlon Garden, and Essie Coat Azure.

What do you think?  Would you do these nails?  I personally liked it very much.  Probably because I spent a bit of time on it. :P  I think it's fun and bright.  Makes me want to go to a summer party. :)


Liz

Sephora by OPI: Once a Cheetah, Always a Cheetah

If you haven't noticed yet, Sephora has come out with a new summer line, The Safari Luxe collection.  Naturally, when I went to Sephora the limited edition colors were all sold out: Caught with my Khakis Down and Once a Cheetah, Always a Cheetah.  So I scurried on over to JCPenney, and the Sephora there had all the colors. :)  At the time, Caught with my Khakis Down (CKD) wasn't really calling out to me, so I only grabbed Once a Cheetah, Always a Cheetah.  But I do know the unique IT color from this collection is CKD.  I'm actually considering going back and grabbing that one.  I feel like I might regret it when they no longer carry it. -_-

I also did a quick one swipe swatch of all the colors in store, and I know for a fact that the two "holographic" colors are not holographic.  So don't fall for that! :P  I was actually most excited about those two until I saw "holographic" meant...multi colored shimmer.

Once a Cheetah, Always a Cheetah (these names are so long), has a bright orange base abundant with yellow-orange shimmer.  The end result is almost like a foil, although I don't think this falls exactly under that category.  I also noticed this looks lighter indoors.  Outside the bright orange base lights up and the shimmer is nearly blinding.  Although, it's not entirely unique, if you don't have any shimmery oranges yet, I would recommend this.

Here's 3 coats of Once a Cheetah, Always a Cheetah.  On my middle nail I used 5 coats to get it completely opaque to cover the crack I have on my tip.  It is a bit sheer, but in the sunlight it looks pretty opaque because of the shimmer.

Have you picked up any polishes from the Safari Luxe collection?  What did you think? :)


Liz

Pink Wednesday: Revlon Tulip & Sparkle

Happy Pink Wednesday!  Are you wearing pink?

I thought about wearing China Glaze 108 Degress, but I figured a lot of people have done that for Pink Wednesday, so I decided to go with Revlon Tulip, 3 coats.

I got this in the mail today. :)  This was part of the tea party set I won in a giveaway from Body and Soul.  Thank you Mary!  Please go visit her site, if you haven't.  Her most recent post is about a great deal going on for a nice set of summery Julep polishes!  And here's a pic of the two sets I received.

From left to right: Waterfall, Sparkle, Garden /  Butterfly, Moss, Tulip

Tulip is a bright, almost magenta, pink creme.  My pictures make it look like it's a straight up hot pink, but it's not.  It's bright but darker with some blue in it.  I've noticed that others bloggers had a lot of trouble with application with this one.  I don't know if mine's a different batch, but I really didn't have as much trouble.  Since these are minis, the brush is a bit tiny, and since it dries a bit fast, it can get streaky as a result.  I noticed that with my second coat, so for the third one I made sure I loaded the brush and it went on nice and smooth.  Even if you load the brush with polish, it'll be fine since the brush is so small.  It'll actually help you cover the nail better.  I wanted to see what Sparkle looked like, so I layered a thin coat over Tulip.

Sparkle has a clear base with fine silver glitter and big holo glitter.  With one coat, I was only getting about 1 holo glitter per nail.  Instead of adding more Sparkle, I layered OPI Teenage Dream over it, because the glitter reminded me of it.

As you can see, the glitters in TD are smaller than those in Sparkle.  In the end, I think I prefer Tulip on its own. :P  I'm really not a pink girl, but I'm starting to really like pinks with a bit of blue/ berry tones.  It might be a phase though. :P  The "I really really want Cult Nails Devious Nature but can't get it yet" phase. ^^;

Have you picked up any of Revlon's spring mini sets?


Liz

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PS. Definitely wear base coat with this one!  It stains. :(